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MC Hammer

When I was a kid growing up in Alaska, in between bouts of fighting bears, climbing the tallest peak in all of North America (What you got, Texas?) and shouting obscenities in Russian at our Russian neighbors across the pond with Sarah Palin, I went through a yo-yo phase. Didn’t we all? (Answer “yes” so I feel better about this.) I was so proud when I finally learned a couple yo-yo tricks, like how to “walk the dog” and “go ’round the world.” I definitely had an extra swagger as I strutted around in my MC Hammer pants after that. (Speaking of MC Hammer, check out this amazing vintage DIY pattern for Hammer pants.) Anyway, this winning performance by Shinji Saito in the finals of the 2011 World Yo-Yo Contest just retroactively killed all my youthful braggadocio.